Scripture Proves the Church

GARY SHIRLEY

Consider the scenario: You are at the park, minding your own business and enjoying a day off from your labors. Suddenly, he appears. The well-meaning Christian who wants to "save" you from damnation. In his zeal to enlighten your wretched soul, he whips out his handy Bible and fires off a few choice New Testament phrases. He is confident you will be dazzled.

He
begins by citing St. Paul in the ever-popular 2 Tim 3:16, "All scripture is inspired
by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training
in righteousness..." This is rapidly followed by Christ's admonition to the Sadducees
in Mt. 22:29, "...You are misled because you do not know the scriptures or the
power of God." Finally, he clinches the deal with the story of the learned Jew
turned believer named Apollos who, in Acts 18:28, "...vigorously refuted the Jews
in public, establishing from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus."

He
appears quite pleased with his efforts. Having shown you the preeminence of the
scriptures in the selected passages, he hopes you'll conclude, as he has, that
the Bible is all you need for salvation. No creed, no church, and no hierarchy
are required.

Taking a long pull on your coffee, you look him square in the
eye. With devastating kindness, you thank him for honoring the authority of the
Catholic Church. He stiffens up immediately. Like a dog looking at a clock, his
facial expression belies a complete lack of understanding. He is momentarily silent,
for he has no pithy rejoinder to such a bizarre comment.

He finally gathers
his thoughts enough to inquire as to what your response could possibly mean. You
politely declare that you are a Catholic and, as such, believe that the fullness
of Truth resides in the Catholic Church, not simply in the Bible. The Bible, you
affirm, is part of a much larger deposit of revelation. In fact, the Catholic
Church is the mother of the Bible.

Shocked at your impunity, he immediately
fires back that you are calling into question the very Word of God, hoping that
will cow you into submission. You smile and offer to share some insights to defend
your position. He agrees to listen, half-expecting to be amused as you concoct
some wild story.

You begin by explaining that the New Testament letters and
accounts he cited earlier of Paul, Matthew, and Luke (author of Acts) were written
during the first century. While Christianity survived underground during the ensuing
centuries of persecution, these documents, along with others, were scattered across
the Roman Empire. There was no New Testament yet; there was no Bible as we know
it today.

You remind him that it wasn't until the Christian faith was legitimized
by Emperor Constantine's decree in the fourth century that the Church could publicly
begin to compile a canon, or rule, of sacred writings. The task required sorting
through hundreds of letters and texts attributed to Apostles, evangelists, bishops
and saints. The goal was, in essence, to distill the truly inspired works from
those that were merely inspiring.

Pope St. Damasus I in 382 AD first proposed
a list of twenty-seven "books" that would comprise the canon. Gatherings, known
as synods, of esteemed bishops were then convened in the north African cities
of Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 AD). These synods prayerfully attempted to
discern the will of the Holy Spirit in deciding what texts belonged in the canon
and which did not. The Church well understood the import of this task. Once the
canon was decided, it would be closed forever to preclude any tampering.

In
the year 419 AD a second Council of Carthage was convened under the leadership
of no less a figure than St. Augustine, a bishop and one of the Fathers of the
Church. This council confirmed the canon as approved by the earlier synods and
forwarded it to Pope Boniface in Rome. The pope then authorized and promulgated
the text and the New Testament became a reality, almost four centuries after Christ.

The New Testament, then, only came into existence because the Catholic Church,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, declared it so. Written reference to the
New Testament's existence or its legitimacy are nowhere to be found in the Bible
itself. Instead, these spring solely from the singular authority of the Catholic
Church. This same New Testament canon was reaffirmed a millennium later at the
Council of Florence in 1442 and the Council of Trent in 1546.

He seems intrigued
by the history lesson, so you go for the closer. You delicately explain that in
every Bible text he cited earlier, when the writer referred to "scripture" he
therefore had to be referring to the Jewish scriptures or what we would call the
Old Testament. The New Testament, as you just described, was centuries from being
becoming a reality. It follows, then, that your new friend's rigid belief in Bible
supremacy puts him in a difficult position. In citing the New Testament, he is
actually using a source that is "unbiblical." This means that since there is no
place in the Bible that legitimizes or sanctions the validity of the New Testament,
he cannot use it to support his own arguments. By declaring the New Testament
to be a source of truth he is de facto sanctioning the authority of the Catholic
Church.

To aid his understanding, you go on to explain that no thing or person
can declare itself a source of authority. Such authority must come from outside
itself. To make the point, you use the example of the people making the laws in
Washington. They did not simply drive there on their own and begin drafting legislation.
They derive their authority through a formal election process authorized by the
Constitution. In like manner, police officers do not roam the streets with guns
because they like uniforms and weapons. They are empowered by a city or town charter
to carry out their duties and those duties have strict limits and oversight.

The
same logic applies with Sacred Scripture. Christ wrote nothing down. A book such
as the Bible cannot declare itself authoritative, it must be declared so by something
outside itself. That something is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church compiled,
authorized and promulgated the New Testament and, combining it with the Old Testament,
created a Bible for all to use. This is the same Catholic Church that suffered
the Roman persecutions, preserved the faith through the Dark Ages, fought the
Crusades and has survived over 2,000 years with unbroken apostolic succession.
It is Christ's only Church, the one St. Paul called the "...pillar and bulwark
of truth." (1 Tim 3:15)

His face says it all. Your learned response went far
beyond what he was trained to handle. It was not in the script. You did not engage
in a duel of scripture phrase for scripture phrase. Rather, you presented a historical
perspective, one which he has never heard. In a few minutes, you managed to sow
confusion in his comfortable world of biblical supremacy. You can tell he is unable
to reconcile using Sacred Scripture as a conversion tool for his brand of Christianity
when every phrase he cites reaffirms the authority of the Catholic Church.

He
realizes his conundrum and admits that he has a lot of homework to do. Highly
intrigued, he asks if you might be a regular visitor to the park. He goes on to
say that he wants to visit with you again in the future. You smile and offer to
bring the coffee.

Acknowledgement

Gary
Shirley. "Scripture Proves the Church." St. Catherine's website.

This
article was published for the St. Catherine's website. It is offered here with
permission of the author.

The Author

Gary
Shirley, his wife, and three children are members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish
in Kennesaw, Georgia, where Gary serves as catechist in the adult education program.
Gary is an Archdiocese of Atlanta certified catechist (both PSR and RCIA) with
14 years teaching experience. Gary
can be reached via email at backtothebasics@searchlogixgroup.com.